The decision by the Bureau of the Catalan Parliament to suspend the speaker Laura Borràs from her duties, once a trial had been ordered by the High Court of Catalonia (TSJC), has been the logical and predictable outcome for many months. In fact, it was already known when Borràs accepted the position of second-ranked authority in Catalonia that, if the TSJC sent her to trial, this would eventually happen. If her position had been another, for example, a government minister, she could perfectly well not have been removed from her office. To scream blue murder now is thus a little forced. A different matter is that the pro-independence parties, ERC and the CUP, wanted to make it very clear that they were suspending her for corruption by applying article 25.4 of the regulation, when they could have used article 25.1 with the same result, because it also serves the same purpose, as it states that Catalan deputies can be suspended from their parliamentary duties after a justified opinion from the Committee on MP Rules.
Borràs said from the very first that she would not resign from the position she has held since March 2021 and has taken that through to its final consequences, aware that Parliament has thus undergone a situation that is exceptional and sad from all points of view. It is a way of defending her innocence, of course; but obviously not the only one. If that were not so, it would mean the finger of guilt would be pointed at everyone who has ever left their position because they felt this was the way to best defend themselves or to avoid compromising their party or the institution they claimed to serve.
Although it is obvious that this situation should not affect the composition of the Catalan government, it is not certain that it will not end up having repercussions, since Catalan politics is sometimes too infantile in its conclusions. The ditching of the government coalition and a hypothetical abandonment by Junts of the Catalan executive could be justified if a double analysis was made: firstly, the breaches of the coalition pact agreed last year between Pere Aragonès and the then general secretary of Junts, Jordi Sànchez. On this very issue, an audit is currently underway, which, if done well, should be the starting point for a serious and less visceral analysis.
But when assessing the pros and cons, the analysis must also include how to give best service to Catalans, starting with the party's own voters. Among other reasons, because there is lot more margin for action through the party's six ministries, 50% of the Catalan government, if the goal is to defend Junts' political positions, which has not always been done. In fact, the party has failed to front up too often and has stepped aside in favour of ERC, the Comuns or the CUP. Leaving the Government and becoming the number two opposition party - the first is the PSC - is a road with too many obstacles for a party under construction, and a dangerous invitation to a poor result in the upcoming municipal elections.